The present invention relates to improvements in conduit couplings and connectors and it relates more particularly to an improved nut member in an electrical conduit connector or coupling and to an improved method of producing the same.
It is frequently necessary in electrical installations to firmly couple or connect unthreaded electrical conduit in coaxial end-to-end relationship or to secure conduit to a junction box or the like. To this end it is a common practice to employ an end-to-end conduit coupling or connector which conventionally includes an intermediate tubular member having an outer hexagonal medial section and externally threaded end sections and a pair of clamp rings carrying internally threaded hexagonal nuts engaging the threaded sections of the intermediate member. An important requirement of the coupling is that it be not only rugged and reliable but also of low cost. They are accordingly usually mass produced, the nut members being fabricated from extruded hexagonal tubing which is then internally threaded. The threads in the conventionally produced connector steel nuts are accordingly discontinuous or interrupted peripherally along their full length and this leads to great drawbacks. In applying and tightening the nut to the male intermediate section mismatching and crossing of the internal and external threads frequently occur, thereby interfering with the application and tightening of the nut and resulting in an unreliable and often loose and misaligned coupling and other disadvantages.